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JUVERNOR SEYMOUR 

u ! 

BEFORE THE 

HEMCIATIC STATE CONVENTION, ' 
At Albany, September 9tli, 1863. 



[r. Chaieman: 

Three years have passed away since you and I and others, some of whom 
see before me now, assembled in this -j-oom for the purpose of trying to 
vert the war which now aillicts our land. We saw the coming storm, we 
lost respectfully invoked that party which had just achieved a great political 
•iumph to pause and imite with us in efforts to avoid a conflict which we 
;ared would shalce this government to its very foundations. Our fears were 
3rided, our prayers were mocked, and we were told that we were not true 
icn, because we foresaw what is now taking place — a bloody and devastat- 
ig ci\'il war. JIow sad has been the intervening period ! lEow many men 
iive been carried down to bloody graves ! How many homes filled with. 

, vOurniug !■ How much of distress, of misery and agony has been felt 

; 'irchigliout this, then free, and great and prosperous land of ours ! We 
leet again to-night, when the war ip its progress has brought us to another 
r its/ cages, and once more, Mr. Chairman, on belialf of the Democratic 
arty of this State, I Stand up here and appe.d most earnestly and respect- 
dly to our Republican fiends to unite with us and save our land from yet 

■ teater calamities. But I will not felwell on the darker side of this picture. 
id as it has been, some great good has grown out ?)f the struggle. We 
ive learned at least to ^'tilue our Union aright ; and those who but three 
• four short years since heaped upon us words of scorn because we pleaded 
lit, and stigmatized us as "Union Savers," to-day come before the people 
^d claim to.bes the particular and especial friends of this Union. (Cheers.) 
' this I am grateful, although I think this recognition of the truth of 
li- position might have been made in a more gracious form. But more 
.£i% that, I rejoice tliat at the late convention held in Svi-acuse, the ' 
3]^lican party declared it would uphold the Union and the "Constitution, 
dt a little time since, men were stigmatized as traitors who would protect .' 

• J^nstitutional rights. This recognition of right and duty I accept most 

nlofully, and none the less thankfully, because it goes forth to the world 

:i many harsh and unkind censures of myself I stand here overlooking 

. that is said that docs wrong to you and to me, with a heart full of grati- 



tudo, because at length we have from all parties a recognition of the great 
truth that tliis Union has a value past coniputation, that the Uuiou is to be 
preserved and the Consitation respected. 

The war has also taught us the full measure of the power and resources of the 
Northern and Southern States. If it has not subdued passion and resentment, 
it has inspired mutual rcsi>ect. This is a great improvement upon mutual con- 
tempt. I am not one of !hf)se vv-ho in this hour of their country's distress are 
without hope. Indeed I regard the future hopefully and conlidently. This 
sad war has taught us not only the value of Union, but before we shall have 
done with it it will teach us (jther great truths, and establish our Union on' 
a firmer basis, and place the rights of the States on such foundation that 
hereafter no power can shake them. (Great applause.) I know that some 
of my friends look despondently upon the future. I know that the acts of 
the last Congress caused great alarm in all parts of our land. I know that 
those acts grew out of false views of policy, and originated with those who 
.seek to make our government stronger by concentrating a larger amount of 
jurisdiction at the National Capitol. I have never for one moment feared 
the result. I have felt since the adoption of those measures, that the very 
acts done by the advocates of a strong central government would overthrow 
forever the theories they were intended to establish. It will be proved by 
experience that those provisions in our National Constitution that restrain 
the powers of the general government were not put there solely for the 
purpose of saving the rights of th^ States. States have a vitality which 
will outlive more wrongs and outrages than any party can inflict. (Loud 
applause.) They may lor a momcut be overwhelmed and subdued but they 
never can be destroyed. They are natural organizations, so knit and bound 
together, that when every eff(jrt has been made to suppress them, they will 
rise up again in all their original power, and maintain and assert all their 
constitutional rights. It is true that one of the ])urposes of the restraint 
upon the power of the general government was to protect the rights of the 
States ; but this was not the only object for which they were introduced 
into the National Constitution. They were placed there for the purpose of 
saving and preserving the national government. Our fathers saw that if it 
was invested with, or attempted to exercise greater power than they con- 
ferred upon it, it would destroy itself. Let us see if this theory is con-ect. 
A few months ago the National Legislature adopted a measure giving 
indemnity for oiienses which ollicials might commit against the rights and 
liberties of the American ])eople. They also passed the Conscription Act, 
an act which ignores the powcrof the States and trenches upon constitutional 
rights, which is inconsistent with the genius of the American people. I 
then ventured the opinion that the result of that experiment would be not 
the destructi(jn of the rights of the States, not an undue increase of the powers 
of the general government, but that when put in operation, the administra- 
tion would be weakened and balUed, simply because it had undertaken to 
do that which was inconsistent with the nature of our institutions. What is 
the result ? One year since the ])eople voluntarily gave half a million of men 
to the national army. Tiicy poured forth their treasure without stint, in 
every school district and township. Why? Because they were compelled? 
No, but because tin; popular will expressing itself in every minor locality 
throughout the land sent up vast contributions to the national army. At 
that moment our government was armed with a military power unequalled 
in the history of the world. Forgetting the source of that power, the admim- 
•in z'l t^ 



h 

stration entered upon a line of policy inconsistent with public rights and 
opposed to public sentiment. We took issue with tliem and combatted them 
in the hour of their strength when they had the largest military array to be 
found on the face of the globe, and we beat them. In those acts incon- 
sistent with the rights of the States and the rights of persons, acts which 
they supposed were calculated to strengthen their jiower, and diminish the 
power of localities they found their own defeat and discomfiture. Since 
then the conscription act has been adopted. They set aside the system of 
lining our armies b}- the voluntary enlistment of men from ditterent States 
and dhferent sections of States, and undertook to fill their arinies by coercion. 
What is the result? This State one year ago voluntarily gave one liundred 
and twent}^ thousand men to fill the armies of the Union. What do we see 
in this State to-day. Men going forth cheerfully and voluntarily to sustain 
the flag of our country ? No, that government whose request then was 
potent to summon hosts to the field, now finds itself compelled to put forth 
its utmost power to drag a few unwilling men from their sorrowing homes. 
Is this strength or is it Aveakness? Is it success or failure? We are told 
that it was impossible longer to fill our armies by the system of volunteering, 
and yet during the operation of the conscription law, the State of Xew York 
has raised more volunteers than will ever be taken out of the State by 
coercion. I do not include those who will be carried into the army by a 
system of substitution, which is but a mode of volunteering. Any attempt 
that may be made by the General Government to pass beyond its legitimate 
bounds, so far from endangering the rights of the States, simply endanger 
the power and the dignity of the government itself The administration 
will be taught by experience what our fathers attempted to teach by admoni- 
tion, that the strength, perpetuity and glory of the government must be 
based upon the consent of the people. They cannot be upheld by physical 
force. Believing, as I do, that unconstitutional legislation will be found not 
to strengthen but to weaken government; that the doctrine of centralization 
will prove to be impractacable and absurd ; that the men who favor it will 
be forced by experience to heed the teachings of our fathers, I am confi- 
dent that our glorious Union and the rights of the States are to be preserved. 
Upon that subject our political opponents will find themselves driven back, 
as they have been upon many other questions, to our ground, by force of 
necessity. The theory that government can be made strong by investing it 
with power which it cannot wisely and safely exercise, will be renounced 
by all parties. 

This war will teach us great and vital truths, and will give a strength 
and vigor to our government. All classes of men will be taught by the 
lessons of sad experience that there is but one way to maintain the glory 
and power of our government, and that is by an adherence to constitutional 
law. There is but one way to preserve our Union, it is by upholding the 
rights of the States, and giving them those privileges our lathers designed 
they should have. There is but one way to secure the durability and pros- 
perity of the government, and that is by adhering to the system which 
makes it beneficent in its operation, which respects the person and con- 
science of every man, and regards as sacred the rights of every household. 
(Great applause.) These great truths are well stated by Andrew Jackson 
\yhen speaking of the power of the General Government, he says : 

'•Its true strcug'th consists in leaTing individuals and Slates as ni\ich as possible to themsolTes; 
in making itself felt, not in its power, but in its. coufidence ; not in its control, but iu its pretection; 
7iot iu bindinpr tho States more closelj to the centre, but leaving each to move uuobitructfed in its 
own proper orbit." 



Years of ])rosperity and of groTring greatness and glory, nnder a system 
of State rights and focal self government proved the perfect adaptation of 
that policy to the conditions of this great country. But they did not prove 
that an equal or greater prosperity might not be enjoyed under the antago- 
nistic theory of centralization. The result of the measures of the adminis- ' 
tration and its efi'orts to increase the influence of the National Government 
by invading the rights of States and trampling upon the liberties and fran- 
chises of the citizens, will prove the folly and futility of the doctrine that 
the National Government can be made stronger by overleaping the limits 
of its rightful jurisdiction. 

Let me say a few words more in regard to the conscription act. Many 
charges have been made against me which I have never noticed. I never 
sought to embarrass this Administration, opposed to it as I am, traduced as 
I have been by its organs and officials. 1 have seen in its very weakness 
and errors reasons for attempting to uphold it so far as I could consistently 
with my duty. I have tried to persuade it to enter upon a line of policy 
demanded as well by its own honor and interest as the honor and interests 
of our common country. I urged the friends of the national administration 
I invoked its agents to avoid the fatal errors they have committed. I tried 
to make them see that they were destroying the public confidence in the 
National Government, and that by trampling upon law and justice they 
would bring the National Administration into public contempt. When the 
conscription act was passed, I attempted to save them from the odium which 
would attach to the execution of a measure intrinsically harsh and burden- 
some. I did so in no unfriendly spirit. Who had the deepest interest in 
having our armies filled by the voluntary action of the citizens? We who 
are out of power, or the friends of the administration ? Could we render 
any service for which they should have been more grateful than the eiforta 
we made to save them from a course so much opposed to the public will ? 

Yet for this we are traduced and denounced. When it was discovered 
by the returns sent to the Executive Chamber in July that a monstrous 
wrong was done by the enrollment I deemed it due to the citizens of this 
State, due to the national government to point out the errors which had 
been committed. I did not doubt that my action would be gratefully 
regarded. I appeal to the public if there was any class of men in our land 
who had so deep an interest in having the act fairly and justly carried out 
as the officers of the government. Was it for their interest to add to the 
odium of an act necessarily unpopular, hj unfairness and inequality ? I 
appeal to the public if he was not their best friend who attempted to warn 
them of every wrong, and make suggestions that would commend the Law 
as far as migfit be to popular favor and support I deemed it my duty to 
send men to Washington, who I supposed would be acceptable to the 
National Administration, to give them statements intended to save them and 
our country and our people from the commission of a great wrong. Yet 
this act was stigmatized as one of hostility to the General Government, and 
calculated to cmbarass it in the execution of the law. I addressed earnest 
but respectful letters to the President. It has been said that the publication 
of those letters was calculated to irritate the public mind and arouse po])ular 
resistance If tliat is true why did they publish the letters? (Laughter 
and applause.) For none of tlie communications which I have addressed 
to the government, or to the General commanding the North-Eastern 
Department, have been laid before the jjublic by me. There arc two com- 



munications wliicli liave never been published. I do not complain of thai., 
because in tlieir form they were not oihcial, although they were n(^t declared 
to bo private or confidential. Anxious to save this government from any 
act that would bring discredit upon it, I addressed Mr. Lincoln with the 
most friendly purpose. I had discovered what I deemed to be injustice, a 
great wrong in the enrollment for the draft. I advised him that altliough 
I was politically opposed to his administration, and while I might, unconsci- 
ously to myself, bo inlluenced by partizan views, I had that regard for the 
honor of our country and character of the administration, tliat I felt com- 
pelled to call his attention to the subject so that it might be fully investigated. 
I also addressed a letter to the general commanding the North-eastern 
District. I suggested that the enrollment was unequal, if not fi-auduleut. 
If I had given away to resentment I might have allowed it to be carried 
out, and thus have brought shame on its authors, but I did not wish to 
bring the administration into disgrace in the eyes of the world. I felt the 
embarrassment of his situation and I wished "to save him from a position 
where he might be impelled by a sense of military obligation on the one 
hand, and repelled by his aversion to fraud and wrong on the other. 
Unfortunately the letter disturbed his taste as to a word, and not his sense of 
injustice as to a wrong. Those who will fairly look at the conduct of the 
Democratic party T\'ill find that so far from being actuated by a desire to 
embarass this administration, we have sought to save it from plunging into 
great, I will not say, fatal errors. Is it just to stigmatize men who only wish 
to have justice done, as unfriendly to the Union, and the institutions of our 
land ? I appeal to you, if you have ever found a man j^et — I care not what 
his political sentiments are, who says that it was not right and just that the 
public should have the names of the enrolled placed before it that all might 
see that it was a fair enrollment, or who does not admit that the names 
should be deposited in the box and drawn put under circumstances that 
would satisfy the whole community that the execution of the law was fair, 
equal and just ? And yet, when the request was made that this precaution 
against fraud should be adopted, not only was that request denied, but those 
who made it with a sincere and earest desire to avert a "^Tong, were stigma- 
tized as men who wished to excite this community to violence, outrage and 
bloodshed ! My friends, we are not among tliose who stand up proposing 
to violate law. We admonish those in authority that our purposes in the 
j)ursuit of right or the punishment of wrong, are not to violate law, but to 
vindicate law. 

So much for the past. I alluded to it not for the purpose of reviving its 
controversies, but to vindicate our motives. What for the future ? Wliat- 
ever wrongs we have received from our political opponents, whatever 
injustice has been done to us heretofore, however much they may \m\e 
traduced us let the past be forgotten. Let violations of constitutional riglits 
and sound policy be left out of view if the Republican party will heed our 
respectful prayer now, and thus prevent calamities in the future. Within 
the last two months the army has gained signal victories. Heretofore it 
was felt that any policy calculated to win back the South by conciliation 
vould seem to spring from defeat and disaster. While we had failed to 
iis&^vt our power, endurance, and resources, in the eyes of the world, such a 
polic_y might lead to complications and difficulties in the future, and .all 
nien we^-e ready to wait until the time should come when the government, 
consistently with magnanimity, and generosity might mark out a course that 



would unite tlic people of the ISTortli as one man. I appeal to yon, wk^^ 
should be the policy in the hour of victory? When government has had---^ 
great atid signal succeesses which i-indicate its power in the eyes of tlie ^ 
world, I ask if its purposes should not be generous and magnanimous? We-i 
have reached a point where the future policy of the government must be 
marked out. Sliall it be that of sulijugation? Shall it declare, that by 
force, and force alone, great States shall be held witljin the limits of this 
confederacy, stripped of their sovereignties, and forbidden to return again to 
the Union, except on terms inconsistent with their constitutional rights, 
inconsistent with the dignity of the States w^hicli make up this great and 
glorious Union? The policy of subjugation is a policy of bloodshed, bank- 
ruptcy and ruin, a country subdued by force and force alone, must be held 
by force. The evil of war is thus perpetuated, and an unceasing drain is 
thus made upon the blood and treasure of our land. An armed occupation 
of the South involves the exhaustion of the North. In the end we shall be . 
forced to yield to necessity that which we can now give with honor and 
dignity. 

Air parties admit that the indefinite continuance of war, with its vast 
expenditure, mast ultimately end in national bankruptcy and ruin. Shall 
we enter upon a line of policy that promises no end to this struggle, that 
sacrifices blood and treasure without limit, which involves the uncertainties 
of the future, the dangers of defeat, the liabilities of foreign intervention, 
rather than sacrifice one passion, one prejudice, or do one act of magnan- 
imity or generosity ? I appeal again to our Eepublican friends, to lay aside 
all party passions and prejudices, to unite with us in the spirit of men who 
love their country, and are prepared to make sacrifices to upliold its cause, to 
join with us in the demand that the power of conciliation shall be superadded 
to the power of force. Is there not more hope for immediate restoration of the 
Union, more hope of stopping this enormous expenditure of treasure and 
blood, which is carrying down young men to early graves, if we show to the 
world that we are prepared to enter upon a generous and conciliatory line of 
policy? Can any one object to a policy that would unite the people of the 
North, and wake at the South whatever there is of love of the Union, or linger- 
ing attfichment to its flag ? I ask if patriotism, true statesmanship — if every 
large and noble feeling does not impel us to say that it is the duty of the 
party which has shown itself most powerful in arms to be magnanimous? 
Is it wise or just to say, our brother has not yet crouched down before us, 
we have not yet trampled upon him, we have not yet gratified our passions 
and malice and hate, let the war not only crush him, but let it drag our 
neighbor from his home to fill its ranks, suck up the hard earned fruits of 
his toil by taxation, turn to dust and ashes the bonds and currency put forth 
by government in the hands of those who trusted in its faith, rather than 
give up passions or purposes of selfish ambition or fraudulent gain. Is that 
a position as noble as to say, in tiie moment of our triumph to those in rebel- 
lion, return to this Union, return to your allegiance, and every right you 
have as States, as communities, as individuals, shall be preserved to you 
sacred and inviolate? (Loud cheers.) We are brought to that stage of this 
war when men must choose between these two lines of policy. Our armit^ 
are triumphant in the field, our soldiers have vindicated their courage and 
patriotism ; thoy have shown themselves ready to sacrifice home a^-id all / 
that men iiold dear, and life itself, and the question comes back t/ us who 
have not been in the field : Will we make aacrilices of pride apd passion, 



|i and give strengtli to armies by declaring that v:c enter iipon a policy that 
jBSiperadds conciliation to force? The President has lately written a"^lctter 
^ ito a political convention, in which he says his proclamation of emancipation 
(4 must live if valid, and fall if invalid. Let it be so ; it is already wrecked 
',:• against the Constitution, _ If valid it must stand, and if invalid it will fall 
and it must fall, because it is invalid. (Great cheering.) I agree with the 
President when he declared the emancipation policy to be one of those 
things entirely inoperative and absurd, only a bull against the comet. I 
read the letter with regret, because it does not contemplate any end to' the 
war, or propose a policy that will bring it to an end in any period of time con- 
sistent with the safety and interest of the American government. 

Let us draw the curtain over the past and leave its events to a future 
and calmer judgment. Let us now confront the perils, tlie duties and the 
problems of the present. Wherein do we agree and in what do we diiicr 
from our political opponents. Let the issue be fliirly and plainly stated it 
concerns the destiny of our nation. All men agree in this, that the warrnay 
be prolonged until we are overwhelmed in national and in social ruin. All 
may not agree as to what that term of time may be ; but all feel that there is 
such a period in the future. _ AH men agree that there is an amount of 
indebtedness which would sink us into national bankruptcy, althouo-h we 
might not agree as to the amount which would bring upon us that humiliat- 
ing calamity. We all too agree in this, that each days continuance of this 
war and each days expenditure for its objects bring us still nearer to these 
fatal fearful results, that we are constantly drifting towards them as he who 
floats the current of Niagara above its cataract is each moment drawn nearer 
and nearer to its fatal vortex and its whelming flood. We all agree that to 
escape the fearful abyss before us this war must be brought to a speedy and 
successful conclusion, and our Union restored before the lapse of time and 
growing debt shall destroy at once the nation's honor and the nation's power. 
We also agree in this, to reach a successful result we must put forth every 
eflFort of material power, but this convention says more than that, that the 
fearful peril, the nation's honor, the nation's faith, the nation's life, demand 
that you shall superadd every effort of wise statesmanship, every influence 
of concilliation, every generous purpose. 

Our political opponents dissent from this, and of all these means to save 
from swift destruction they will use but one, — force, and force alone 
they will not accept union, peace and restoration, but they demand subju- 
gation. 

ISTot only do we propose to use more and mightier influences to save our 
nation from bankruptc}" and ruin, but we insist that success in this contest 
shall be made attainable by vf aging it for a delinite purpose — the restoration 
of our Union, the preservation of our Constitution. X)n the other hand, our 
political opponents make this a war for indefinite, revolutionary and uncon- 
stitutional schemes. Wliile we would unite all the friends of our govern- 
ment in a common object and would weaken the opposition and divide the 
councils of its opponents by the justice and generosity of our purposes, the 
Eepublican party distract the North by vague, impracticable and dangerous 
theories. At the outset they declared they sought only to uphold the Con- 
stitution and that they made no war upon the rights of States, then we were 
told that slavery was the cause of this war and must be removed to restore 
peace to our land, and now we are told by those who direct the policy of 
this administration that the General Government i;s to assume new relation- 



8 

sliip not only towards States in rebellion, but also towards those wlio liave 
ever remained lojal to their obligations, at the very moment when a speedy 
conclusion of this war is demanded not only b}'- national safety, but the 
safety of our homes, our persons and our property, the whole fabric of society 

. is shaken by wild theories, our political opponents would have us plunge 
into a bottomless pit of vague speculations, of untried and dangerous experi- 
ments, and of renunciations of all the past experience that has taught us to 
be safe and wise. Of the wasting character of this war the public knows 
but little ; of its vast expenditures and accumulated debt we are allowed to 
know still less. Where is that multitude of more than a million that have 
entered into the service of our country ? To-day our armies are on the 
defensive, and the National Capitol is insulted and menaced by a hostile 
force within sight of its dome. The experience of this war has taught us 
that the waste of our regiments from all causes is equal to an annual loss of 
one-half their numbers. The government declares it needs an army of seven 
hundred thousand men, when it reaches that number its daily waste will be 
one thousand. Of this vast array, the quota of New York will be one hun- 
dred and forty thousand men and to maintain it we must annually give up 
seventy thousand of our abls-bodied citizens. Shall this fearful sacrifice be 
made to gratify the passions of fanatics, or the theories of wild and visionary 
leaders, or the lust for game or power? or shall it be made for the purpose 
of saving our Union, restoring our Constitution and with the force of a wise 
and conciHatory policy declared in this the hour of our victoiy be made the 
means to bring about a speedy, fraternal and honorable peace. We claim 
then that we are in favor of exerting more and greater influences for the 
success of our cause than our political opponents are willing to exert, while 
we do not oppose the same obstacles in the way of a successful and trium- 
phant conclusion of the contest. The public creditor who holds the obliga- 
tions of the government, the tax payer on whom the indebtedness will fall, 
the citizen who desires again the enjoyments of peace, and the protection of 
laws and legal tribunals, the men of toil who fear that they will be torn fi'om 
their iiimilies to serve in distant fields must decide the issue now made up, 
they must decide which policy promises the most certain triumphs to our 
arms, which best insures the restoration of our Union, which aliords the 
strongest guarantees of the rights of persons, of property, of conscience, and 
of hi )Uie. 

It has been ungenerously and untruthfully charged that there has been a 

. disposition to embarrass the administration in the conduct of the war, yet I 
believe it will be found to be true that the State of New York has raised 
more volunteers since the first of January last than all the other Northern 
States combined. Including our militia, who rendered such efficient and 
valuable aid, when Pdfiusylvania was invaded and the National Capitol 
threatened, the recruits sent to the regiments in the field, the new regiments 
which have gone forward, and those enlisted in organizations now forming. 
New York has sent to the assistance of the General Government nearly 

I tliirty-five thousand men. This does not include the numbers of conscripts. 

This State has ccnitinucd to pay liberal bounties to volunteers. During the 

rear I have issued nearly six thousand commissions to officers serving 

■ General Government. All of the officials connected with the 

'•.utivc J)(.'partment have labored patiently to promote the interest and 

1\''lllirc of (;ur soldiers in the field. It is due to the President and to the 
Secretary of War to say that these services have been frankly and fully 



9 

acknowledged, yet partizan presses and partizan speaker^ seek Hot only to 
libel officials, but also to disparage and to underrate the efl'orts, the sacnil6ces, 
and the honor of the State. But injustice and a wrong will never make us 
swerve from the path of duty. We will struggle on lor the preservation of 
our Union. We will cling to our constitutional rights, we will cherish an 
undying, unyielding faith in the principles of our government, we will never 
consent to a dissolution of this Union, to save it we are ready to make every 
sacrafice of pride or passion or prejudice, of blood or of treasure. We will 
exhaust every measure of conciliation ; we will appeal to the interests, the 
hopes and fears of the citizens of the South, and ur^e every suggestion which 
it becomes men to make to bring back the revolted States, we will put fortli 
every power to restore the Union, invoking every consideration of patriotism, 
doing all that is due to our country and to ourselves, invoking tlie return of 
every State ; holding sacred every star upon our flag, and marking him who 
would strike one from its blue field as much a traitor as he who would rend 
its folds assunder. 



[From the Albany Atlas & Argus.] 



The Onset upon ^m. Seymour. 

Mr. H. J. Raymond, at a meeting in 'New York, on Friday, I'euewed the 
advice Avhicli lie gave a year ago to tlie Republican State Convention, that the 
political campaign should bo conducted by a personal assault upon Governor 
Seymour, involving his cliaracter, hh conduct and his loyalty. Not content 
with precept, he gave a sample of his tactics, by parading a written assault upon 
the Executive of the State, in which, falsifying his acts and motives, he accused 
him of the grossest disloyalty to the country. 

As he had made these same charges, a year ago, before any of the acts which 
base his present arraignment, liad occurred, it is not worth while referring to 
them, further than to show their animus. If Gov. Seymour liad done nothing, 
the accusations would have been the same; as|indeed they were proclaimed as 
loudly, (with threats tliat he sliould be hung) Before his election, as now. 

To aid the politicians of this State in this personal assault, the termagant 
Senator from Massachusetts, Wilson, has been brought on. ' lie had quahiiod 
himself for the special service to which he is called, by a speech at Brunswick, 
Maine, from Avhich we make an extoact as a specimen of his style : 

I tind, iti llie^e resolutions, [tlie Maine platform,] Hoi-atio Seymour, of Xew York, commended — 
he who, since he has heen Governor, h;iSsliown the small abilities he has — and tlie3-are small indeed, 
in efforts to put down the Repiiblican part}'. But thanks be to God ! he is chained to-day to ilie car 
of Abraham Lincoln. His friends in Maine may laud him, as they have done, hut he's a conquered rebel 
sympathizer ! The draft in New York is goinji;on. There are forty-four noble and loyal regiments 
there to help the gcjvernment enforce the draft, and there is not a soldier among them who wovM 
not rather shoot a copperhead — put a Inilkt through his brains — than a rebel soldier. A nd the poor 
conquered and whipped leader of the Go2yperheads knoivs it! 

Speaking of the emancipation proclamation, he said : 

They tell us that this measure divided the North. It ia not so. I do not know a man who i.s 
now against us who was not always against us. Jilverywliere our armies are advancing ; every- 
where the rebellion is receding. We shall overthrow it. We shall subjugate the rebel States^— 
that's tlie word — subjugation! We s-liail comiuer the rebellion in Neiu York! Forty-five regiments 
are there to do it, every" soldier of which, as I told you before, would sooner shoot a Copperhead t/uin 
a rebel soldier ! 

This Senator Wilson, who represents a State which has profited more by the 
war and done less than any other, — this Senator who is more responsible foV the 
stoppage of volunteering than any man in the Union, who set the example of 
abandoning the Regiment of which he assumed comuiand, is, we see, set down 



10 

to regale tlie citizens of Utica Avith his personal assault upon the Governor of 
this State, and tliat he is to extend his tour to other sections of this State. 

We do not ask any forbearance from the pohtical strategists who propose to 
carry the State under a storm of vituperation against its Chief Magistrate. Mr. 
Raymond lias tailed once in this attempt so signally, that even he might be 
admonished not to try it again. His ]iarty has not recovered from the failure 
of the State Convention, which he undertook to lead, and which presented a 
platform that could not stand, and candidates that would not run, and which is 
destined to a defeat tlie more remarkable for its contrast witli the success of the 
party in other States. 

"What a contrast does not the course of the demagogues of the Republican 
party j-)resent to that of the Democrats during Gov. Morgan's administration ! 
VVhen the war assumed its formidable proportions and threatened not only the 
Capitol but the North, the Democratic press and politicians, who had till then 
opposed the administration of the Governor, turned in and w^armly seconded 
every measure which he urged to bring out the military power of the State. If 
he was hampered at all, it Avas by his own pqlitical associates. In the two 
Houses and in the Military Board, he found counsel and support among his 
political opponents. 

Even as late as a year ago, when the great effort was made to fill the armies 
of the Union by volunteering, he found Democrats ready to answer his appeal. 
In order to bring liome to the People the full sense of the public dangers and 
necessities, Gov. M. appointed a committee in each Congressional District ; and 
these offered bounties to recruits to a great extent from private contributions, 
but furnished in the main by town and county appropriations. 

In looking over the lists of these Committees, Ave find the name of Gov. Sey- 
mour, Chairman of the Oneida Committee, upon Avhich he labored with vigor 
and efficiency. Sanford E. Church stumped Orleans County in the same effort, 
speaking in every neighborhood and raising large sums of money and many men. 
Dean Richmond gave thousands of dollars to the Genesee District, and again to 
the Erie County Volunteers. 

In the list of names to which Gov. M. appealed, Ave find many of our candi- 
dates noAv in 'nomination : Henry C. Murphy, of Kings; Saxton Smith, of Put- 
nam; Geo. Beach, of Greene; J. V. L. Pruyn, of Albany; Judge Hand, of 
Essex ; Willard Jolinson, of Oswego ; Chas. llulett, of Chemung ; Marshall B. 
Champlain, of Allegany, and John B. Skinner, of Wyoming. 

There Avere other men engaged in this patriotic effort, no less distinguished in 
the annals of the Democratic party, Wm. Kelly, of Dutchess, Addison Gardner, 
of Monroe, A. B. Conger, of Rockland, Delos De Wolf, of OsAvego, John A. 
Griswold, of Rensselaer, John Ganson, of Buffalo, Heman J. Redtield, of 
Gencssee, Gouverneur Kemble, of Putnam, the Tildens, of Columbia. If we 
choose to point to our own county, Ave may but rest upon the name of Mr. 
Corning, whose endeavors in sustaining the political cause did not rest with that 
single effort. 

The immense unauthorized expense of this movement, had to be met by a 
Democratic administration. Governor Morgan and Comptroller Robinson Avere 
both averse to a special call of the Legislature ; (for a session of the Legislature 
under the rule of modern philanthroi)ists and liberals, has come to be looked 
upon as a public calamity and danger,) and the three millions of money Avcre 
expended by them, Avithout any authority of law. No endeavor Avas made to 
embarrass their action, but Governor Seymour and his friends in the tAVO houses 
gave it the sanction of subsequent law. 

When in June last, the army of Lee invaded Pennsylvania, another opportunity 
was given to the Governor to exhibit :i ])atriotism above all considerations of 
party. We need not revert to Avhat he did ; for the record stands. He raised 
sixteen regiments of troops in about as many days ; and these reinforced the 
army of Meade just in time to turn the even balance of forces Avhich disputed 
the liate of the Nation at Gettvsburir. 



n ' 

How those mpo^yer at Washington regarded Gov, tSeyniour in this crisis, th.\ 
have not left to conjecture. Secretar^tanton wote by Telegraph : 

'Governor Seyinour: •-% "■. ''; • Washixoton, Junof 1G. 18C3. 

The President directs me to return his tlianlcs, with thoae of the Dopartmciit. for your pnn 
response. A Rtronoj movement of your city re^jiraents to Phihidelphiu would be a voryeiicournfjint: 
movement, and do great good in givinjc strength iu thai iState. * * * 

EUWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. 
Again, four days nffer, he wi-oto : / ■'- 

ill' iKi.KijiiAi'ii KiiOM Washington, } 
Juue I'J, 1803. ) 
To Adjutaat General Sprariue: 

The President directs me to return his thanks to His Excellency, Governor Seymour, and his 
Staff, for their energetic and prompt action. Whether any fuflher force i8 likely to bo required, will 
be communicated to- you to-morrow, by which time it is expected the movements of tlie enomy will 
he. more fully developed. (Signed) 

V EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. 
John- T. Sprague. Adjutant General, 

A personal and official assurance from Washington, as late as June 27, docs 
•^credit to Secretary Stanton's tVjinkness : 

War Departmext, Wasuixgtont Citt, } 
June 27, 1863. ) 

Dear Sib: — I cannot forbear expressmg to^vou the deep obligation I feel for the prompt and 
candid support you have given to the government in the present emergency. The' energy, activity 
and patriotism you have exhihued I maj' be permitted personally and officially to acknowkii., 
without arrogating any personal claims on my part, to such service, or to any service whatever. 

I shall be happv alwavs to be esteemed your friend, 

His Excellency!; Horatio Seymour. " EDWIN M. STANTON. 

While Secretary Stanton, on the impulse of public danger, was thus frank in 
his acknowledgments, which bear on their fice the evidence of sincerity and 
truth ; and while the President was not afraid to make similar acknowledgments, 
the papers of our State, the Times, Tribune and Kve. Journal, and the black 
circle of partizan sheets, seem to take pride not only in maligning the character, 
of Gov. Seymour, but in depreciiating llie services of the State of New York, 

They misunderstand the temper and character of the peoi)le of Xew York, 
No State is less pretentious, less boastful of its deeds, less pharasaical in its 
pretensions, than this great State. But it has some honest pride. It i-ecognizes 
.abilities in its public men, purity of character in its citizens, tlie dignity of place 
in its chief magistrate, and tiie patriotism of those Avho have stood by the cause 
of the Constitution and the Union, hi the.muhiplied perils of the present crisis. 

It appreciates all these characteristics, combined in the person of Governor 
Seymour. And when the Greeleys and Raymonds and Weeds, falsify his course, 
malign his motives, and give the si^^l for a general assault upon his character, 
they will know where to place and how to regard these party hacks — and the 
coarse and shameless Wilsons they have brought into this Slate to aid them. 

But they will not be diverted by this assault, which is but a feint for that 
purpose, from the real issues of the political campaign. It is the course of policy 
determined on at Washington, that is in question. Is the war to be prolonged 
indefinitely ? Are submitting States to be repelled' and refused the privilege of 
returning to the Union ? There are tens of tfiousands of hands in the South 
lifted up" in prayer for the cessation of the war aud the restoration of the Union ! 
They ask only the privilege of submitting to the Constitution and to the laws, 
rind living once more under the^anncr of the Union ! Ther are repulsed and 
denied ! They are told that they must first arrange matters with their negroes, 
emancipate them, admit them to citizenship, and submit to their participation 
in government. Negi-o regiments are raised to enforce this policy. 

Behind this doctrine, odious in itself, looms the fearful future it involves- 
protracted war, high swelling floods of debt,,taxati()n illimitable and endless, th 
decay of industry, "and sociafdisorganization North and South! 

In resistance to tlus fatal policy'stands the Democratic party. It cannot io 
all to relieve the evils of the couutrv, but it can do much. It can conclud-' 



12 



'ctoriohs \rnr by an honorable pea,ce. It can recall tfee States to the TTi 
(T.n present a front that M'ill defy the intervention of foreign states. It 
-tore the vigoi- of our •Constitution and rednce the burden "of taxation. 

. .u ensure the" pacification' of the South and the tranquility of the Xoith ; 

iliat secured, it can set in motion tliose natural powers of recuperation av 

enab 

to unheard 

prosperity and (greatness. 
!,<■: the .'Icrt-M--- ..flK' Stati 



l)Ie a jieoplc misguided as our.s have been for the last few years, and exp 
imheard of <»alaniities, to retrieve bv ■'-■- -:--i — -i.-.-;-;- '];eir foi 



THE COX^TITUTIOX, 
;which is tlie only hope and bond of Unidi 
. • , , . -» ,■ -n -1 n' . lour only autliorkv for exhorting or C'lDipolli 

An Independent Democratic, Daily, Semi-Liierr,ancc of the South 



It will oppose every infraotiou of 
THE LAWS, 



[ndependcr 
Weekly and "Weekly Newspaper. 

UNIOM OF TH£ WORLD AND ARGUS, iin high plaj^es or in low, by reckless and mis 

'partisiiTis' or by tlie admini.stvation whi( 

TuK World, to which the Sew York Weekly been their example. 

V lous hasjieen united, has to-day five tinier the! Jt will fearlessly exercise the FREEno^t < 

_,TeKate circulation of any Democratic or con- |P|ij,;s's; ic will constantly uphold and 

i-vaiive newspaper. It addresses weekly aloncjp&EEDOJi op Speech and Khej:doji of the I 

i')re iliau lOO.OOO sub.«cribers and constant' Profoundly impressed with the desire to 

::el.asers. aud reaches at least Half a .MiLLioxIbnte all tha't it may to the great work c 

. aders. With the steady niore.ise in circulatiouljreneration— naraelv, to restore our national 

lirh it now enjoys, these numbers will be doubled and to place the United States again fo 

, the 1st of .Januar}-, ItHii. Nothino: less than:am<jn,L,' the nations of the earth, and fir.'^i 

issl.ouldsatisfy those who believe that the oulyipeage, prosperity and happiness of its pe 

.pe of restoring the Union and the authority ofiTnE World seeks from those who 'tics in 

! > Constitution over a now distracted and divided tilings their .■^vmpathy and suppdrt, and. ab( 

..iintry, lies in wresting power fnun the hands ofjthe ^vor of Him who crowns every !;ood w 

::.,se whose fanaticism has helped to provoke, in-i ,, Term.s : Daily World. 

.,, and prolong the war ; and that to accomplish ^.^^^ subscribers by mail 

,s end, no means !s so elleetive as tlie diffusion, • - „r , . -..r .j, 

...U'h able and enteiiM-ising newspanerS, of, iscmi-Weekly World. 

u.ud" political knowledge, among the working.^in^dc su\;scnbers per annum 

,11 liie thinking nit-n, and the voting men of thcj I'wo copies to one address 

.^i.jlj Three " '• 

Knterprise. industry and money will be libefallyl^'ive "I '" 

.'..-Fided to make The WotaD THE BKST|i^«u " '• 

, I'-.WSI-'APKK, IK AMERICA. Its news frqmj -Weelily World. 

• ■ Tt of the world will he early and authentic Single subscribers per auuum, 

! exertions will be used to make its Ji-:Three copies (address on each paper,) 

the Crops, of the Cattle, Produce, aTTaj Five copies '• •• 

.i!,.y UM!::els, coniprehensi%"e vand accurate.JTen copies "■ " .... 

•:,lizing that the bone and sinewo'f the Country Twenty copies (all to one ^ddrest- . 
to he found i:pon i's f .rrns ..nd in its work-j ciub.s of*20 and over can have ;. 

every quarter 1^ each paper for an additionalchar^. • ' ii 
ncnlture and' .. .i 
io make itS; jj'o,, g^ery club of twenty an extra cop|r 



111 



'ARMKttS and 



ad'led for the getter up of the club. 



World \\i" 
a fiiidTifxv 

rr ■■, and v 

I'y vahiai'iL- 

?. l-i'^""h'7-' . , . T I ' For every club of tifcv. the Stmi-Weekb 

^f Til,.: W out.D is a plain one. It,,.^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ hundred, the I Uul ,• ■ 

InK. M.lVTAl.NTMBOONSTI-l ^^.\^^^ ^ 

■ ''"'-' ^^^''^- , ^^ "^^^:;^'^ COPIES OP WKEKLY. 

' ii ' : lO exercise ol force or tliCj 
uiu-lhaiiuii, The Would wii: advocate; 
makes against it, 



IX LT!:t' 



Additions to Clubs may be mai'.e .,, 

,,, ..iisame rates. Papers cannot be ci.angcd n 

IHB World wi11|j,j^,,^ ^^ .^^^^^^^^'^^ ^^^ ^^ ,.^^^,,^,3^ ^,^ „,„ 

'ordering; the Club, and on '■■■■"'■-^ -f' ■■• 
oppose every enemy to single papers will l . 

THK UNION, ;,na sent to a- •"'' 

; ill rebellion iit the So?itii or insi-' All order 

the seeds of disunion and essen-|Addre.s3 
ti the North. 1 

up; 'j.-:e overy violation of _ ■ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 






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HoUinger 

pH8.5 

Mill Run F3-195 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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HoUinger 

pH8.5 

Mill Run F3.1955 



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